Berhampur: Police Friday arrested a trader on the charge of sodomising a minor boy here in Ganjam district. The accused was identified as K Suresh.
The arrest was made 16 days after a police complaint was lodged by the victim’s family. Locals accused the police of shielding the accused. Instead of taking him by a police van to produce him in a court, he was taken in a special car that irked the residents.
The incident occurred July 24 when Suresh called the boy on some pretext and allegedly sodomised him. The boy revealed the matter to his parents.
Since the victim’s family and the trader belonged to same community, locals tried to suppress the matter by providing money compensation to the former. However, the family lodged a complaint against Suresh June 26.
After learning this, Suresh consumed pesticides kept at his house. He was admitted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar.
After improvement in his health condition, Bada Bazaar police arrested him Friday. The court rejected his bail pleas and remanded him in judicial custody.
Berhampur SP Pinak Mishra said the police were not shielding the accused. “He was undergoing treatment in Bhubaneswar and was arrested after there was improvement in his condition,” Mishra said, adding a further probe was on.
PNN
